Developing and evaluating a new intervention for Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Social Anxiety
Start date: 1st June 2019
Award: 1 fully funded IoPPN/Psychiatry Research Trust PhD studentship
Project:
This is an exciting position for a student interested in the research-clinical interface who wants to contribute to the development of the next generation of personalised psychological interventions for young people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Your research will play a pivotal role in the development and evaluation of a novel virtual reality package to improve the treatment of social anxiety among young people with ASD.
You will join a vibrant multi-disciplinary lab and your project will be supported by a team of clinical academics, a virtual reality programmer, and people with lived experience of ASD. You will also work closely with clinical colleagues in the South London and Maudsley specialist youth service.
You are curious and you want to explore the potential underpinning mechanisms which lead to social anxiety in young people with ASD (e.g., poor emotion recognition and theory of mind, poor emotional literacy and interception).
You will need to have initiative and be proactive and you will have an interest in ASD and, ideally, some experience in working with young people with ASD.
The project is a collaboration between the Virtual Reality Lab, the Department of Psychology and the Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
You will acquire cutting-edge knowledge and experience in digital mental health.
Closing date: Thursday 13th December 2018 (23.59 GMT)
Supervisors: Dr Lucia Valmaggia and Professor Emily Simonoff
Entry requirements: Applicants should have a Bachelors degree with 2:1 honours. A 2:2 degree may be considered only where applicants also offer a Masters with Merit.
Award types and eligibility: The award will cover the PhD stipend and Home/EU tuition fees.
This studentship is available to Home/EU students only.
How to apply:
Applicants must complete and submit an online admissions application, via the admissions portal by Thursday 13th December (23.59 GMT)
On the ‘Choosing a programme’ page, please select ‘Research degrees’ and enter the keyword Psychology Academic Research MPhil/PhD.
In your application, you will be asked to include:
• Academic Transcripts – where applicable, academic transcripts must be submitted with the online admissions application
• Details of your qualifications (you will need to attach copies)
• Details of previous employment
• A personal statement describing your interests and why you wish to apply for this project. Please include this as an attachment rather than using the text box.
• Academic References – all admissions applications require two supporting references. If the applicant is relying on his/her referees to submit references directly to the College after he/she has submitted his/her admissions application, then the applicant must ensure that their chosen referees are made aware of the funding deadline.
In the Funding section, please tick box 5 and include the following reference:
LV-IoPPN-2019
Please note there is no need to complete the Research Proposal section in your application as the project has already been set.
You are welcome to email Dr Lucia Valmaggia (supervisor) for more information regarding the project and studentship.
If you have any queries regarding the application process, please contact the Postgraduate Research Administration Assistant.
References must be received by the deadline for the applicant to be eligible.
Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.
Application deadline: Thursday 13th December (23.59 GMT)
Interviews: 10th January 2019
Further Information:
About the IoPPN
Studying at the IoPPN
Research degrees at the IoPPN
KCL Researcher Development Programme
Virtual Reality Lab